The maternal-to-zygotic transition (MTZ) is one of the most critical changes in the life of an organism. In the MTZ, two differentiated germ cells, a sperm and an oocyte, become reprogrammed into the totipotent embryo. This MTZ requires the coordination of multiple events, including the degradation of a subset of maternal mRNAs and proteins and the transcriptional activation of the zygotic genome.
This paper demonstrated that SMAUG is a major regulator of maternal mRNA clearance and proposed the model of the maternal mRNA clearance pathway in Drosophila.
I will introduce MTZ, especially mRNA clearance, and discuss how the authors constructed the model from the genetic analyses.